Tunnels & Tunnelling Weekly: 30/10/23
Tunnels and Tunnelling International
The official magazine of the British Tunnelling Society at Business Trade Media International
Developments in immersed tunnels, pumped storage power plants and a costly TBM rescue mission. Another news-packed week at Tunnels and Tunnelling International .
Also check out the two events coming up in the next couple of weeks. If you are able to attend in person, or just login to stream, both should prove very insightful.
Our pick of the news highlights below:
FEHMARNBELT FLOATING GATE PUT INTO ACTION
A floating gate that controls water levels for the immersed Fehmarnbelt tunnel project basins has been moved into the harbour opening for the first time.
Three basins have been built in front of the tunnel factory at R?dbyhavn in Denmark so the tunnel sections can be shipped out. They are effectively the link between the factory and the work harbour. The basins can be closed at both ends with gates so the water level can be raised above sea level when an element is moved.
The gate, which was built in the middle of basin B, is 45m wide and 21m high. It has eight tanks and, as well as closing the entrance between the harbour and the basin, the gate has a pumping station to fill the basins.
The construction consortium Femern Link Contractors (FLC) filled the three large basins with water in September. The operation took 10 days and was done gradually so as not to damage the barriers between the basins.
HS2’S NEXT TUNNELLING MACHINE NAMES REVEALED
HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd has unveiled the names of the next pair of TBMs that will construct the high speed rail line under London.
Following a public vote, the names Emily and Anne have been chosen, named after local female icons from history.
Major components of the first machine due to launch have now been lifted into the 25 metre deep ancillary shaft at the HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd site in Ealing to prepare for the launch. HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd’s London Tunnels contractor, Skanska Costain STRABAG Joint Venture completed the lift as they prepare for the next stage of tunnelling under the capital.?
PORR BEGINS PREPARATORY WORK FOR PUMPED STORAGE POWER PLANT
PORR Group has broken ground on the Ebensee pumped storage power plant in Upper Austria.
The €167m (￡145m) contract, awarded by Energie AG Ober?sterreich Telekom, includes the construction of the Traunsee outlet structure, the tunnelling and gallery construction, the construction of two plumb shafts, and the excavation of an inclined shaft with a 60° incline.
The project will enable water from Lake Traun to be pumped almost 500m up into a storage facility in the mountains. The cavern power plant will have output capacity of 170MW and a storage capacity of 1.32 million m3.
COSTLY TBM RESCUE COMPLETED IN TORONTO
After 15 months, the micro TBM stuck on Toronto’s Basement Flooding Protection Program has been retrieved.
The TBM, which was installing a 900mm diameter storm sewer, was launched in March last year. It became stuck in June 2022 after being ensnared in steel tie-backs used for brace shoring for two mid-rise developments in the area.
In March this year the City of Toronto issued an emergency contract to Clearwater Construction Ltd to retrieve the TBM and it was hoped the operation would be completed by early April.
TIDEWAY TBM LAUNCH SHAFT CAPPED OFF
领英推荐
London’s new super sewer has been capped off at its most central point.
Tideway London’s site in Nine Elms is the point at which two TBMs were lowered 50m into the ground in 2018 to begin tunnelling on the 25km super sewer.
Travelling east and west, the two TBMs created the central section of the main tunnel between Fulham and Bermondsey.
TBM Millicent tunnelled the 5km toward Carnwath Road in Fulham, while TBM Ursula tunnelled the 7.6km journey toward Chambers Wharf in Bermondsey. The shaft – around 30m wide and 50m deep – now has its concrete cap fully constructed.
MOSSIA ANS COMPLETES EXCAVATION OF MOSS RAILWAY TUNNELS
The Mossia ANS consortium has completed the excavation of the Moss tunnel, one of two tunnels on the Sandbukta-Moss-S?stad railway line in Norway.
The Calberg Tunnel was completed in November 2022.
To build the two tunnels the ACCIONA / Implenia consortium carried out 1,560 blasts and removed 2.5 million tons of rock. Blasting for the Moss Tunnel started in November 2019.
The Moss Tunnel will now be completed with shotcrete, the installation of waterproofing and anti-freeze membranes, the concreting of the final lining, and the construction of trenches, drainage and foundations. In addition, a substructure will be constructed for the rail installation.
BTS NOVEMBER 2023 MEETING – HINKLEY POINT C: BALFOUR BEATTY MARINE WORKS: CONNECTING TUNNELS UNDER THE BRISTOL CHANNEL
?? Thursday 16th November 2023 at 18:00 hrs GMT
?? Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) - One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA
November’s British Tunnelling Society meeting will focus on Hinkley Point C and Balfour Beatty plc’s Marine Works - Connecting Tunnels Under the Bristol Channel
JOINT TECHNICAL EVENT - GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE IN TUNNELLING AND OTHER APPLICATIONS: DEVELOPMENTS IN ULTRA-LOW CARBON CONCRETE
?? Thursday 9th November 2023 at 18:00 hrs
?? IStructE , 47-58 Bastwick Street, London, EC1V3PS
Hosted by the London & Southeast Region of The Concrete Society and the British Tunnelling Society this is a joint event with the presentation being ‘Geopolymer Concrete in Tunnelling and other applications: Developments in ultra-low carbon concrete’.
Thanks for reading; we hope you enjoyed it.
Until next week.
To have a story featured on next week's newsletter - contact?Tunnels and Tunnelling International?or Martin John directly.